Here’s how to create an easy clone effect in DaVinci Resolve! This smooth clone transition, seen in numerous music videos like the Fredo Bang Big Steppa Feat. Sada Baby video, can be created and customized using the Fusion and Color Tabs, along with some other tools found in DaVinci Resolve. Follow along with our Fredo Bang effect tutorial to add this clone transition to your next video production.
How to Create the Clone Effect in Davinci Resolve
The idea behind this clone effect is to cut and mask out the object you want to isolate, then blur and slide the background. First, select the clip you want to work with and hold down Alt to duplicate your layer. The duplicated layer will be your subject cut out and masked. The bottom layer will be an animated sliding background. (Pro tip: Color coordinating your layers by right clicking and selecting Clip Color is a good way to keep from getting your layers confused when you’re switching back and forth between tabs.) Then select both layers, right click, and select New Fusion Clip.
Go to your Fusion tab and press F2 to rename your nodes so they’re easy to identify. Select your background node and press 2 to view it. Hit Shift + Spacebar, then search for Transform and select it to add a Transform node. With the Transform node selected, select a frame about halfway through your clip and keyframe the center. Go back to the first frame in your clip, then, under Transform, change the Edges to Mirror. Continue dragging the slider next to Center in your Transform settings over a few times, then play it through to see the background sliding past multiple times.
Navigate to your Spline editor and check the Transform box at the bottom of the screen. Leave the first keyframe linear, then right click the second locked point and select Smooth. Hold down Alt and drag out your second locked point to make the transition even smoother, causing the clip to come to a nice smooth halt at the end.
To isolate your subject with masking, navigate back to your Edit page and right click the Fusion clip to select Open in Timeline. Select your clip with your subject, then go to the Color tab. Find your Mask page and, using the Curve tool, draw a rough mask of your subject’s head (we’ll be masking each body part individually).
Go to your Tracker and select the Frame tab. Move forward frame by frame, manually adjusting the mask to align with your subject as you go along by adding keyframes and using the Curve tool to reposition the mask as needed.
Switch to Interactive mode, then click and drag to select all the track points you want deleted (we deleted all the track points from our subject’s hand so we could focus on tracking his head). To add any track points back, select Set Points at the bottom of the screen.
(Note that you don’t have to track every single frame - just every few frames or so to achieve the right amount of tracking.)
One you’re done tracking, go back to your Mask tab. Make sure the Tracking tab is set to Clip, then adjust the Softness by adjusting the Soft 1 and Inside values.
Repeat this entire masking process on every part of your subject’s body.
Still in the Color tab, go to Nodes and right click to select Add Alpha Output. Drag it to the end to get the Alpha mask working.
Navigate back to your original timeline in the Edit page. Select your Fusion clip and go to the Fusion tab. Select your Transform node, go to Settings, and select Motion Blur. Increase the Quality and Shutter Angle, then play it through to see your clone transition in action.
To further stylize this clip, select your subject node, hit Shift + Spacebar to open your Search bar, and type in Duplicate. Select Duplicate to add a new node. With your Duplicate1 node selected, go to the Controls on your right and adjust your Copies slider (we created about four copies). Find the spot in your clip where all the clones come together, then select a frame just a few frames before that spot and create keyframes for Cipies, Time Offset, and Center.
Go back to the very beginning of the clip and set keyframes for Copies, Time Offset, and Center there as well. Then go to the middle of the clip and adjust the Center so there’s an offset. Check the “Merge Under” box. Adjust the Time Offset as well to give the effect a distorted look. Now when you play your clip through, you’ll see an epic clone effect with a wavy echo to it.
Feel free to continue customizing this clone effect with any of CinePacks’ other tools, like the Scratch FX. We used this pack by grabbing the Scratches_light effect and dragging it in between the Background and the Transform1 nodes. Change the Composite Mode to Screen to add some noise and scratches to your background.
This Scratches_light effect also contains a white flash that can be used as a cool transition. Select the scratch effect node, then go to your keyframe editor and align the white flash to occur right at the moment when all the “clones” come together.
Another cool way to experiment with this clone effect in DaVinci Resolve is to create movement from different directions. First, delete your duplicate node and locate the keyframe where everything comes to a halt. Add a Transform node, then copy and paste it. Merge these copies in a few separate times and keyframe the center of each one. Drag the copies off to each side and play it through.
Visit our Online Store for DaVinci Resolve Video Effects and Tutorials
If you liked our Fredo Bang effect tutorial in DaVinci Resolve, we have plenty of other resources on the CinePacks website! Watch our many Final Cut, DaVinci Resolve, and Adobe Premiere Pro tutorials to learn how to create awesome videos with these tools andget in touch if you ever have any questions or comments. Also, take the time to browse our video effects for DaVinci Resolve and other editing softwares; we even have free packs so you can experiment with a lot of these effects and video transitions completely free of charge. We can’t wait to see what you create!